And When You Smile, I Fall Apart
by amnaangel12
Summary: AKA: Teddy says his first word


**DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THEY ALL BELONG TO QUEEN J.K ROWLING**

Emerald flames danced in the fireplace of the Burrow as Harry stepped into the living room, his one year old godson, Edward (commonly known as 'Teddy') Lupin was giggling in his arms, currently engrossed in chewing on an ear or his prized stuffed wolf cub plushie.

"Oh Harry dear, you've come," Mrs Weasley said, bustling into the room from the kitchen. She was about to engulf him in one of her famous bear hugs when she noticed the gurgling child.

"And you've brought Teddy too," she exclaimed, smiling fondly as she tickled the young metamorphmagus' stomach which caused him to erupt into peals of laughter and his ebony curls to turn pink.

"Yes, well I thought that it would be best for Andromeda's sanity if I were to relieve her of some stress - he _is_ my godson after all. I do hope it's not too much trouble,"

"Oh of course not dear, don't be silly," she replied, half reassuringly and half in exasperation at her surrogate son's constant unfathomable fear of imposing on the Weasley family, "Now come along, we're just about to start lunch."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx time skip xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So how's young Teddy doing?" Charlie asked Harry as he watched Ginny feed the son of his best friend baby food, making airplane noises in the process.

"Well, he can walk if he has something to hold onto and he's a devil of a crawler. Just last week I put him on the sofa, I turn my back for a second to put in a movie and he's already halfway in the kitchen. Gave me a heart attack, the little bugger," Harry said, smiling fondly.

"Have you gotten him to talk yet?" George cut in.

"No not yet," Harry replied

"What. He hasn't said his first word yet?" George said incredulously. "We'll have to change that now, don't we?"

He then got up and stood directly in front of Teddy, pushing his sister to the side whilst doing so - " _Oi watch it, idiot"_ \- placed his arms on either side of the high chair and said, "Hey, Teddy can you say George?"

"What!" Ron exclaimed, "No way in hell is my best mate's godson going to say your name before mine." He stood next to George and turned the high chair so that Teddy was directly facing him. "C'mon Teddy, say 'Ron'. It's only one syllable and much easier to say than his." He purposefully avoided saying his older brother's name lest Teddy were to get any ideas, "makes more sense to spell as well."

"OI!"

"Well it is. Your name has letters that aren't even pronounced."

"Shut it Ron," George mock snapped, he turned Teddy back and said almost in desperation, "you can do it Teddy - your father's Remus Lupin so you're supposed to be smart. Say George."

"No, Ron."

"GEORGE!"

"RON!"

"GEORGE!"

"RO-"

Ron was cut off by the sudden appearance of a glistening, glowing whisky silvery-white lynx that was scampering to where Harry sat, amusedly watching his best mate and George getting into an argument - _honestly, does everything have to be a competition with this family?_ The deep, calm voice of Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt said, "Harry, I'm terribly sorry for bothering you on your day off but something just came up and I need to have a discussion with you immediately." The patrons then vanished into thin air.

"Well, I'd better be off now, then," Harry said as pulled his godson from the high chair and used a napkin to wipe his mouth. He then handed him to Mrs Weasley, who immediately took him and started rocking him in her arms. Just when he was about to throw the floo powder into the fireplace, he was stopped dead in his tracks by a shout of:

"HAWY!"

Suddenly, everyone went quiet as they stopped what they were doing and quickly turned their heads to stare at the young metamorphmagus in Mrs Weasley's arms, shock and surprise written on every single face in the room.

"No way. He didn't," George whispered to himself as he stared intently at Teddy.

"HAWY! HAWY!" Teddy cried once again, squirming from his position and holding out an arm towards Harry as if trying to tell his beloved godfather to hold him again.

"He did," Ron stated, grinning, his previous shock having morphed into amusement and glee, "I don't know why we're all surprised, to be honest, it's only natural that the first word that Teddy says is the name of the person he loves the most: Harry."

"Wuuuv," Teddy says slowly, experimenting with the word to see if it felt right, "wuuuuv. Wuv. Wuv hawy. WUV HAWY!"

"Would you look at that Harry, he says he loves you," Bill said happily, immensely enjoying the dumbstruck look on his younger brother's best friend's face. Harry continued to stare at Teddy for a few more seconds before his face broke into a bigger grin than the Cheshire Cat as he took him into his arms once again and hugged him tightly before holding his godson, his wonderful, precious, most beloved godson in front of him.

"Hawy?" Teddy asked.

"Yes Teddy, it's me Harry and I love you so so so _so_ _very_ much. Much more than you are capable of knowing because you are the best godson that anyone could ask for." Harry whispered, closing his eyes and nuzzling his nose with the baby in front of him. It was true, he'd do anything for him, he would lay down his life to protect him in a heartbeat, and that was what scared him; he could impale giant basilisks, go against a hundred dementors, lead a rebellion against the ministry of magic, fight in a war, even defeat an actual dark lord, but the thought of doing anything that could upset his godson, that could disappoint or break the trust or dampen the smile of the person that loves him unconditionally, that gave him light when the PTSD of the war covered him in so much darkness that there were days he couldn't get out of bed, who always greeted him with a smile that was so much like Remus and a laugh and jovial attitude that practically screamed Tonks, was one that sent fear rushing through his spine and his heart to beat in a way he wasn't aware it could. He remembered going to the funeral of the people who died and left their son far too early, who named him - _him_ , who was probably the most reckless person in the wizarding world, of all people - godfather to said child, and thinking ' _can I do this?_ '.

"Awwwww. How sweet," George sniffed, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye and holding a hand to his heart, and completely breaking the atmosphere of the room. As everyone began yelling at him for ruining the moment, Harry continued to gaze at Teddy, still smiling like an idiot. He may have had his doubts when Remus and Tonks died about whether he could do it, whether he could be half as good of a godfather to Teddy Lupin as Sirius Black was to him, but when he saw Teddy, when he saw the complete trust, adoration and happiness in Teddy's eyes and that bright, hopeful smile that practically lit up his face, he realised:

All will be well.


End file.
